


almond crush

by sunflours



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Minor Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, even more minor chenji, jaemin overthinks a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:07:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26366917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflours/pseuds/sunflours
Summary: jeno turns to jaemin and uses his lower jaw to bob the pepero up and down to get jaemin’s attention.‘nana,’ jeno mumbles.‘jeno,’ jaemin replies, a little touched. he looks at jeno from underneath his eyelashes and waggles his eyebrows in a leer. ‘you wanna play with me?’(aka: jaemin plays the pepero game with jeno, realises that he has a gigantic crush and then proceeds to overthink for a couple thousand words. yes, in that order.)
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 120





	almond crush

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is 90% me simping for jeno and 10% flowery descriptions of things that do not need to be described all wrapped up in a badly paced fic ヾ( -,-)ゞ 
> 
> titled after the best pocky flavour (unless u hav a nut allergy . in that case, i apologise, and i offer u cookies and creme instead) .

as expected, all bad ideas come from donghyuck.

admittedly their initial idea to meet up that day was all chenle. he was the one who decided to utilise their shared free thursday afternoons, and persuaded jisung to skip his seminar to join. and jaemin was the one who raided the nearest h-mart for snacks. jeno took the jam-packed tote bag from the younger man and swung it over his shoulder the second they met up on the way.

but donghyuck was the one to take the packet of pocky out of the bag, raise an eyebrow and rip the packaging open.

‘why pocky?’ hyuck asks, and jaemin raises an eyebrow.

‘it’s jisungie’s favourite,’ jaemin retorts. 

‘oh,’ jisung says, and he purses his lips. ‘i like the strawberry flavour the most though.’

jaemin’s mouth falls open as donghyuck crows in excitement, and jaemin narrows his eyes.

‘kids these days,’ jaemin says, and he turns to jeno, eyes big and pleading. jeno nods in understandment and absentmindedly pats jaemin’s head .

‘no respect,’ jeno agrees. ‘chenle framed me in among us last night and made sure i was the first one killed.’

jaemin gasps in mock-shock and snatches the package away from the youngest two. donghyuck rolls his eyes.

‘that’s what you get for splurging on pocky,’ donghyuck says smugly. ‘pepero’s cheaper.’

‘so much cheaper,’ jaemin bemoans. ‘i spent at least five pounds more on you, jisungie, and you betray me by liking _strawberry_ flavour.’

‘you didn’t remember,’ jisung points out and chenle snorts.

‘i thought strawberry was jaemin-hyung’s favourite flavour,’ he says with an angelic smile and jaemin leans forward to gently hit chenle’s thigh before changing his mind and smacking his own.

donghyuck takes out a stick and gently bites down on the end, grinning cheekily from around his pocky as he turns to his boyfriend.

‘come on,’ he says, bobbing it up and down from between his teeth, taunting renjun. ‘don’t be a coward.’

‘you’re disgusting,’ renjun retorts and donghyuck rolls his eyes.

‘are you twelve?’ he retaliates.

‘you’re the one who wants to play the pepero game, and you’re calling _me_ immature. first time we all meet up in _days,_ and you want to ruin it with a fuckboy’s ploy to makeout?’

‘babe,’ donghyuck pouts. ‘we’re dating.’

renjun pulls the pocky out of donghyuck’s mouth and then jumps at him, pushing the other boy flat on his back and they jokingly wrestle around. the rest of them barely flinch, used to their bickering. jeno absent-mindedly twirls the pocky in-between his fingers easily since the shape isn’t too dissimilar to a drumstick, and he gently places it between his teeth, biting down on the end of the stick very loosely. he turns to jaemin and uses his lower jaw to bob the pepero up and down to get jaemin’s attention. 

‘nana,’ jeno mumbles. 

‘jeno,’ jaemin replies, a little touched. he looks at jeno from underneath his eyelashes and waggles his eyebrows in a leer. ‘you wanna play with me?’

jeno rolls his eyes but he leans in a little closer. jaemin smiles- not a teasing smirk this time, but a real, genuine toothy smile- and shrugs. he notes that jeno’s biting down on the base so he’ll be the one moving closer.

‘stay still,’ jaemin says, and jeno nods ever so slightly.

‘you gotta beat us,’ donghyuck says, and jaemin glances at the small bit of pocky that donghyuck and renjun had eventually ended up with. it wasn’t too small, probably because renjun had cut them off to cringe.

‘cool,’ jaemin says, and he places one hand on the back of jeno’s head, the other one cupping jeno’s jawline. he hears chenle squawk and he goes to lean in and bite off the other end of the pepero, but he stops. 

he feels perceived, for a lack of a better word. because there’s something, _something_ glimmering underneath jeno’s fixed gaze. usually his eyes are curled into crescent moons, but now they’re open and all warmth and secrecy, and jaemin traces the curve of his eyelids, the shadows of his eyelashes, the squareness of his pink mouth with his gaze. 

and jaemin can’t seem to move. he’d say he felt trapped, but he can feel heat rushing to his cheeks and his heart begins to pound a little faster than before. 

jeno cocks an eyebrow. jaemin blinks. 

he leans forward and begins to bite off the end of the pepero. 

he crosses his eyes as he focuses on the pocky, but he starts with a big bite so his nose is suddenly brushing against jeno’s in a butterfly kiss.

here’s the thing- jaemin doesn’t really consider himself as competitive. he likes the fun of games and he likes prizes, but he’s never really that caught up in the competition and the adrenaline rush. but something inside his chest spurs him on, and he inhales sharply as he realises he’s been holding his breath. 

he can feel jeno breathing with him, feeling hot air on his own lips, and he can’t help but inch closer to jeno, continuing to nibble off the end of the pocky. it gets to the point where he’s close enough to have to purses his lips to avoid their mouths brushing against each other. jeno just sits there patiently, eyes open and trained on jaemin, the edges of his mouth curving up in a slight smile. 

jaemin looks up to make eye contact, feels the brush of jeno’s eyelashes against his cheek, and bites off the end once there’s barely any space left between the two. he leans back, catching what’s left of the pocky in the palm of his hand. 

‘we win,’ he says smugly, turning to the others and ignoring his pounding heartbeat. they’re all sitting there in disbelief- jisung’s not even looking their way, and renjun has a hand hiding his open mouth- and jaemin holds up what’s left of the pocky between his thumb and pointer finger.

‘nana,’ jeno says, and jaemin’s head snaps back to face the older boy, who’s brandishing a wet wipe. jeno gently wipes at the chocolate stains on jaemin’s lips and jaemin cocks his head. it’s the burt’s bees grapefruit wet wipes, the ones that jaemin really likes, and he watches as jeno folds the edge with the stain over, then folds the wet wipe again into a perfect square.

‘makeup?’ he asks, fixated on aligning the edges.

‘nope,’ jaemin says, popping the p. jeno looks up, smiles, and wipes the rest of jaemin’s face, focusing on the inner corners of jaemin’s eyes where some sleep dust had collected. jaemin knows that jeno knows that he likes the smell, and often just wipes his face with said wet wipes to feel a little more energised. 

‘you two really surprise me,’ renjun says dryly. ‘i always wonder how the hell i can third wheel any harder, and then you do things like this.’

‘wanna one-up them?’ donghyuck asks, throwing a leg over renjun’s lap and his arm sliding around the smaller man’s shoulders and renjun sniffs.

‘no.’ 

‘wanna make out?’ chenle asks jisung, and jisung turns an impressive shade of red as everyone practically falls over themselves to stop the two.

they’ve all agreed to leave the park before the sun sets; renjun has a nine am the next morning, and none of them wanted to piss off renjun. so when the sky bleeds a little orange and pink, renjun stands up and dusts the dirt off his ass and the rest follow suit. 

jaemin stands and he’s about to set off when he notices jeno kneeling at his feet, reaching forward to double knot jaemin’s shoelace. 

‘nana, just a sec,’ jeno says. a breeze ruffles his thick hair and sends goosebumps up jaemin’s arms, and jeno makes a pleased little noise as he pulls the rabbit ears of the shoelace tight. he looks up at jaemin, and the sunlight hits his brown eyes and turns them a little golden.

‘done,’ he chirps. jaemin’s heart flutters a little bit and he thinks oh-

_oh._

that’s new. 

(*・∀・)つ─━━━━

jaemin’s in bed, right about to sleep when his eyes suddenly snap open. he scrambles to turn the light on before he realises that jisung’s still awake and gaming in the corner.

‘jisung-ah,’ he says. 

‘ah, hyung, wait-’

‘i’m having a _crisis-_ ’

‘so am i! chenle says i’m the imposter!’ 

there’s a faint rattling from jisung’s headphones and jaemin assumes it’s chenle screeching in response, judging from jisung’s wince. 

‘jaemin-hyung,’ jisung says sadly. ‘chenle’s probably gonna get me killed in a second. i can talk then.’

‘is it just you and chenle?’ jaemin asks, and jisung nods.

‘i’m on voice channel, chenle can hear-’

‘do i like jeno?’

the death animation plays for jisung’s character on the screen. jisung turns in his swivel chair dramatically, and his headphones nearly pop off his head- his bluetooth ones were charging only a few metres away so he’s using his wire ones. 

‘you like jeno.’ jisung confirms. ‘like. wait, in what way?’

‘like like,’ jaemin says, and he rolls his shoulders forward as he gesticulates wildly with his arms. ‘have a crush on, infatuated with, want to sing twice songs about him, have a burning fire in my heart and loins for him-’

‘oh.’ jisung blinks. ‘yes?’

‘i do?’

‘i think you do?’

jaemin leans back in shock, his back hitting the headboard. there’s some more shrill screaming from jisung’s headphones and jaemin can just about make out the word _YES._

‘you need better headphones,’ jaemin says quietly and jisung huffs. 

‘are you okay?’

‘no,’ jaemin says. ‘jeno smiled at me today.’

‘he always smiles at you.’ jisung points out.

‘no, he did a…’ jaemin trails off, and mimics the expression that had turned his entire understanding of the world upside down. his eyes are crinkled into his best approximation of half moons and he plasters on a dopey smile. 

‘yeah,’ jisung repeats. ‘he always smiles at you.’

‘like that?’

‘like that. hyung, you’re kind of not making any sense, did you not like jeno-hyung before?’

jaemin slides back into a lying position and turns the light off. 

‘i’m going to avoid that question.’

renjun’s a lot less sympathetic.

jaemin tentatively texts renjun a _hey // i think i <3 jeno _and the shorter man instantly replies with a phone call. jaemin considers not picking up- he’s not really a fan of talking on the phone- but the knowledge that renjun is infinitely more reluctant to call than him makes him answer. 

‘you’re an idiot,’ renjun says, his voice all crackly and stern. ‘i needed to tell you this because i gain absolutely no satisfaction from typing it.’

‘injunnie,’ jaemin whines and renjun clicks his tongue.

‘jaeminie,’ renjun mimicks, and jaemin winces. ‘i _know_ for a fact that you less-than-three jeno. please do something about it.’

‘don’t wanna,’ jaemin says through a pout. he fiddles with the lint in his pocket. ‘i thought he looked handsome _once_ and i’ve been freaking out since. i don’t really think it’s a good idea to try _something_ on a whim.’

renjun makes a frustrated grunt and jaemin can practically hear him rolling his eyes. ‘i’m with hyuck, can i put you on speakerphone?’

‘why are you always paired up when i ask,’ jaemin mutters and he can pick up renjun hissing the updates to donghyuck before the honey-skinned boy crows in joy.

‘i _told_ you,’ he says to rejun, and jaemin scowls.

‘what do you mean, you _told_ him, this is a totally new experience-’

‘nana, jaeminie, baby, honey, you dumbass, taeil-sunbaenim kept me behind after choir to ask me if you and jeno were dating, and taeil didn’t even know jeno’s name for the first three months of term..’

‘why did _taeil-_ ’

‘not important!’ donghyuck says loudly. he hears renjun snort next to him. ‘how are you gonna confess!’

‘i’m...not?’

‘nope! wrong answer, try again.’

‘no, hyuck,’ jaemin says seriously. ‘i’m really not. i’ve spent ten years not liking him and _two weeks_ thinking he’s kinda handsome and that i want to hold his hand. i think i should wait to figure out what exactly i feel before i even _think_ about doing something so...so big.’

‘you know renjun and i were friends before we dated?’ donghyuck asks amusedly and jaemin shakes his head before remembering that they can’t see him. donghyuck doesn’t need to explain more for jaemin to understand what he’s getting at.

‘jeno’s different. i don’t want to do anything that could ruin what we have now.’ 

‘jaemin, i don’t know what you want us to tell you.’ renjun cuts in. ‘you tell us that you like jeno but you’re not gonna do anything because you don’t think you actually _like_ like jeno, even though you’re clearly panicking over something? you’ve made your mind up, but what do you actually want?’

jaemin takes a deep breath.

‘i want time to figure out what i want.’ he says in a small voice.

‘okay,’ renjun says. ‘that’s okay. but don’t procrastinate. that’s unfair for both of you.’

(*・∀・)つ─━━━━

if all bad ideas come from donghyuck, renjun is the awful, _awful_ enabler of all bad ideas.

it’s barely been two weeks later and jaemin’s not done anything drastic other than lie awake at night and think about holding jeno’s hand. his steadily decreasing sleep schedule has made his nine am maths classes absolutely unbearable though, and renjun had sighed and offered to help jaemin catch up on whatever he had missed.

so jaemin knocks on renjun’s dorm room door and shifts his weight from hip to hip as he waits for the shorter man to swing the door open. a minute passes and jaemin frowns, checks his phone and _yep-_ it says that his message to renjun sent, and that renjun should know that jaemin’s waiting outside. it can’t hurt to check, so jaemin spams a couple of random emojis (the snowman, an up arrow, the dollar, a pc, the writing hand) and watches as they all send and deliver successfully.

‘injun, you shit,’ jaemin mutters as the little ‘seen’ pops up.

he knocks again, louder this time, and he hears some scuffling from inside. he rolls his eyes and sends off another few emojis- the raindrop, a clock, then a circus- and taps his foot against the floor.

‘you’re five minutes late-’ jaemin declares, and then he cuts himself because _that’s not renjun._

‘nana,’ jeno says, eyes crinkling into his signature eye-smile.

‘nono,’ jaemin replies, raising an eyebrow. ‘where’s renjun?’

jeno’s smile falters a little. ‘he’s not here, he’s hanging out with all the other international students. did you need him?’

jaemin frowns. ‘he promised he would help me study.’

‘i can help,’ jeno says.

‘it’s math?’

‘i got into an architecture program,’ jeno reminds jaemin. ‘i did advanced math classes this year. like math. you were gonna ask _injunnie_ for help with _math?_ ’

‘you were busy,’ jaemin says weakly. 

jeno rolls his eyes and beckons the younger in. jaemin slips his trainers off by the door and he leans forward into jeno’s space to flick the slightly greasy red strands of hair falling into his eyes, the rest of his hair hidden by the grey hood. jaemin purses his lips as he notices how the drawstrings of jeno’s hoodie entwine with the wired apple earphones that jeno insists on using at home, his phone nestled in his hoodie’s pocket. he begins to untangle the cords and jeno’s smile returns.

‘i don’t recognise the anime,’ jaemin admits as he taps the character on jeno’s hoodie. 

‘shep,’ jeno says. ‘from the film that daft punk made.’

‘the space one?’

‘interstella five five five five, s-t-e-l-l-a.’ 

‘and yet you don’t remember ryan,’ jaemin says, clicking his tongue. ‘you use his stickers on kakaotalk all the time.’

jeno pulls a despairing face and jaemin smiles. 

‘done,’ he adds, the wires and drawstrings free from each other, and jeno beams. 

‘thanks, nana.’ 

‘no problem. now teach me math.’ 

jeno takes a quick glance at the textbook jaemin’s got clasped to his chest and tucks his hoodie behind his ears. 

another thing about jeno is that he is extremely focused. it takes him a while to get into the zone, so to speak, but once he’s settled in, not even jaemin can properly drag him out of it. 

jaemin likes to think he has relatively normal studying habits. he takes breaks every hour or so, he sets limits, he snacks. jeno either does nothing or everything all at once. 

the younger man is on his self-imposed fifteen minute break after an hour of stumbling through imaginary numbers- jeno taught it well, but he just doesn’t like math that much- and jeno’s probably on his fourth hour of studying, at least. 

so jaemin takes the opportunity to properly drink in the sight of the older man. he wasn’t expecting just how much jeno had changed over the first year of university,as already thought jeno had gone through puberty, for lack of a better phrase. jeno had definitely lost a lot more of his baby fat, and getting a haircut that wasn’t centered around a heavy fringe had been good for him. but now, with his red hair and strong forearms on display, thanks to him pulling up his hoodie sleeves, jaemin thinks that his best friend has never really felt so far away.

he checks his phone. renjun’s replied with the lenny face and several kissing emojis and jaemin drums his fingers against the phone screen.

‘hey,’ he says softly. he pushes the textbook away from jeno ever so slightly. ‘did you know you have a mole on the tip of your nose?’

the sudden comment snaps jeno out of his studying mindset, and it takes the cherry-haired man a second to process the comment before he ducks his head shyly and flushes a little. 

‘why are you looking there,’ he replies self-consciously, his hand going to rub at the aforementioned mole and jaemin slaps jeno’s hands away.

‘you have a nice nose, of course i’m gonna look,’ jaemin says with a scowl. 

‘don’t,’ jeno says. he’s covering his face and squirming in his chair and jaemin takes a fraction of a second to admire jeno’s pretty hands before he pulls them down by the wrists.

‘i read on the internet that freckles are kisses from angels,’ he says with all seriousness, staring right into jeno’s eyes, ‘and most people would kill for your nose. it’s all high and tall and angled and shit. you, of all people, shouldn’t be self-conscious over your looks.’

and jeno blinks, wets his pink bottom lip and says with big pleading eyes, ‘jaeminnie, why are you avoiding me?’

jaemin’s mouth goes dry. 

‘no, i’m not?’ he says. his tone is all off and his voice cracks halfway, as if it wasn’t obvious enough that he was lying. but jeno’s got a sad sort of smile on his face as he scans jaemin from head to toe. 

‘you wanted to ask injunie for help with _math_.’ jeno reminds jaemin. 

‘i don’t know what you want me to say.’ jaemin says. 

‘the truth?’ jeno asks. ‘did i do something wrong? you’re acting okay once you’re with me, but you never wanna get bubble tea and bike with me anymore.’

‘oh,’ jaemin says. ‘uh, i’m trying to cut down on sugar.’

‘nana, please don’t lie,’ jeno says. his tone is all velvet wrapped around steel. jaemin closes his eyes in realisation that jeno knows him _too_ well, and he’s driven the older man to his tipping point. 

‘i like you.’ jaemin says quickly. his heart is beating rabbit-fast and his palms are properly clammy for the first time in twenty years. ‘when we were playing the pocky game two weeks ago, you looked at me and i really wanted to kiss you, and now i maybe have feelings for you and it’s _awful_.’

‘awful?’ jeno echoes and jaemin nods.

‘you’re my best friend, nono,’ jaemin says. ‘i wouldn’t wanna ruin that for the world. for anything.’

‘ah.’ jeno’s lost in his own thoughts and he opens his mouth to talk before jaemin interrupts.

‘please don’t say anything. i don’t wanna think about it. jeno, i really mean it, i value our friendship so much, and i- i think i’m just...maybe a little confused? this is really new for me, so i don’t want to act on a sudden feeling and then realise that i don’t actually like you in that way and then break your heart and destroy whatever we have-’

‘you give off a lot of mixed signals,’ jeno interrupts, and jaemin’s impassioned speech trails off. 

‘hm?’

‘you give off a lot of mixed signals.’ jeno repeats. ‘whenever we talk, you always stare at my lips. you smile at me differently to the others. you say you like me. but you don’t wanna do anything because you wanna maintain our friendship?’

‘jeno-’

‘if i told you i liked you,’ jeno interrupts, his voice even, eyes fixated on the textbook in front of him, ‘and that i’ve liked you since we were seventeen. what would you say then?’

‘nono,’ jaemin says, the nickname more of a sigh as he begins to understand what exactly jeno is telling him.

‘nana,’ jeno says, ‘answer the question for me?’

and jaemin closes his eyes and thinks _oh god oh shit oh god_ as it dawns on him that he’s just destroyed his own chances of loving jeno the way he could; he’s exposed himself totally, honestly, and dug himself a little grave whilst he was at it. his mind races back through every single time he’s talked to jeno _ever_ since they were seventeen and reframes it all through the lens of jeno liking him. his heart aches.

‘i’m sorry,’ jaemin says lowly. it’s an apology for just how much he’s hurt the older man, but jeno nods and taps his pencil against his lips.

‘your answer doesn’t change.’

‘no,’ jaemin protests.

‘then what?’

‘just…’ jaemin trails off. ‘just. i’m sorry.’

‘i had a feeling.’ jeno says with a shrug. ‘thought i was being really obvious recently, and it made you uncomfortable. it’s okay. it’s better now it’s out in the open, right? 

‘jeno-’

‘i’ll walk you through one more question,’ jeno says, his voice steady, firm, pure steel now. ‘and then i need to go out for a run.’ 

‘okay,’ jaemin whispers. 

jeno tutors, sometimes. he had always gotten high grades throughout school and grasped new concepts pretty easily, as well as his general demeanour meaning that he’s well suited for tutoring. and sure, jaemin’s heard stories of jeno, the cold, uninterested and professional tutor, but he’s never really understood it; jeno always taught him with soft smiles and inside jokes. 

there’s not an inch of familiarity in jeno’s voice for the rest of the day. 

and once they finish teaching, jeno nods, says, ‘yep, that’s it,’ and pats his tracksuit bottoms, probably to check for his wallet. 

‘i’m gonna head out now,’ jeno says, ‘there’s some food in the fridge if you want anything before you leave.’ 

he slips out of his room not even a minute later. jaemin heads to their cupboards, opens the one that holds the little pack of chewy caramels that jeno hoards from restaurants, takes a handful and unwraps them all, popping them in his mouth one by one. he quietly packs up his stuff, puts his airpods back in his ears, loads up jacob collier’s _to sleep_ and closes the door to jeno’s room behind him.

jisung takes one look at jaemin who trudges back into their shared dorm room later that night and cocks an eyebrow.

‘do you want to order malatang tonight? the spice will help with stress.’ jisung says, waggling his eyebrows.

‘sounds good. wanna share?’

‘i have dance tomorrow,’ the younger boy says blankly. ‘jeno-hyung’s gonna try and help me backflip. i don’t wanna do that with a sore stomach.’

‘ah,’ jaemin says. he automatically tears up at the mention of jeno’s name, and jisung’s eyes widen in horror. jaemin waves away jisung’s offer of a tissue, and instead pads into the kitchen.

‘you’re too good to me, jisung-ah,’ jaemin mutters. jisung shakes his head.

‘not really, hyung,’ jisung says. he grins sheepishly. ‘i’m still gonna ask you to order it and pay.’

(*・∀・)つ─━━━━

jaemin successfully manages to avoid talking to jeno one-on-one during all of their group hangouts. jaemin was never necessarily the _most_ talkative; he and jeno were similar in that they both have bursts of energy within the group, peppering in jokes to the others’ more consistent flow of talking. they laugh, mess around, and jaemin can still read jeno’s body language to a tee. 

‘you okay?’ chenle asks him one day, and jaemin quirks his head.

‘i’m good,’ jaemin says and chenle purses his lips to one side.

‘if you say so.’ he says. ‘but you seem different.’

‘good different?’

‘you’re not so…shiny?’

‘shiny.’ jaemin repeats, and chenle pouts.

‘not like, ring ding dong. like, you’re not as bright.’

‘you’re calling me dumb, chenle-ya?’ jaemin jokes, and chenle rolls his eyes at jaemin avoiding the subject. 

but avoiding jeno a little bit really does hurt. it’s not as bad as it would be if he went completely cold-turkey on jeno, but jaemin doesn’t want to admit that that would probably destroy him. instead, he’s let himself have a little amount of jeno each day, tampering down fantasies of kissing down the pale column of jeno’s neck and threading his fingers through that red hair. and just a little is enough to drive him off-the-walls insane, practically bouncing with the urge to swallow his pride and just _exist_ with jeno. 

so he climbs out of bed, pours himself one shot of soju and cracks his fingers before pulling out his phone at three am. 

**to: acorn**

bubble tea and biking?

**from: acorn**

tomorrow?

**to: acorn**

ヽ(o^ ^o)ﾉ

(*・∀・)つ─━━━━

it dawns on jaemin that he’s probably fucked up the second he sees jeno.

they’ve done this enough times to know exactly what they want to do. they’ll meet outside the cafe that’s in-between both of their accommodations at around lunch time, connect both of their airpods to jeno’s phone and play their joint playlist that’s been carefully curated over the past year as they bike around. after that, it’s either coffee or bubble tea (depending on whether jaemin wants a hit of sugar or caffeine) and then winging the rest of the day. 

so when jaemin sees jeno awkwardly toying with the handle of his bike, puffing out his cheeks and scrunching his nose side to side as he walks, jaemin knows that he’s fucked up. 

_i don’t wanna ruin our friendship,_ jaemin had said over the phone to renjun and donghyuck. and his heart sinks as he realises he had done just that.

‘you gonna redye your hair?’ jaemin asks quietly after their hellos and as jeno’s putting in his airpods. 

‘probably. i don’t think i’ll look nice with pink hair.’

‘i’ll dye mine, we can match.’

jeno rolls his eyes and leans forward, and jaemin can tell from jeno’s inhale and slight leaning forward that he was about to run his hand through jaemin’s fried blond hair, stopping before he could even lift his arm. 

‘i’ll let the red fade if you dye your hair black,’ jeno says instead, jutting his jaw forward in a challenge. jaemin chooses not to answer, sticking out his tongue and hopping on the bike. 

‘you lead,’ he says, and then he sets off.

jeno catches up pretty fast and then he sets a pretty large distance between the two; they mostly bike side by side, neither of them using any sort of maps app and instead just taking whatever direction they want, since they could tell from just watching each other which direction the one leading wanted to take. 

but today, jeno’s pace seems punishing. 

jaemin can keep up, of course, but jeno’s not hesitating to push himself to his limits in terms of both stamina and speed, and they’re definitely overtaking their record for the most biked in a day. the trees fly by as jaemin follows jeno, and the bass of the songs in the playlist almost lag behind his pedalling. 

after a while, jeno looks back over his shoulder and scans jaemin quickly. he sets himself on course back to the centre of the city at a significantly slower pace, stopping outside the third bubble tea shop they see which just so happens to be jaemin’s favourite franchise. they find a pretty spot along the han river after jaemin pays for both drinks and by the time they sit down, he’s already finished half of his honeydew milk tea (one hundred percent sugar). 

‘what’s wrong?’ he asks once jeno sits, and jeno looks up quizzically at him. 

‘nothing,’ jeno says. 

jaemin chews on the pearls from his bubble tea slowly, emphasising the sticky sound and rolling his eyes slightly in a camel impersonation. it brings a small smile to the older man’s face. 

‘you’re lying,’ jaemin accuses after swallowing and jeno’s smile turns a little sad.

‘yeah.’ 

‘do you wanna talk about it?’ jaemin asks, cocking his head.

‘about _us,_ ’ jeno corrects. 

jaemin sighs. he locks his bike and then sits down next to jeno, stretching his legs out in front of him to knock his knees against jeno’s. 

he’s watching the way the light plays off the river with a faint frown, and jaemin traces the curve of jeno’s jawline with his eyes before he makes a clicking sound that he usually uses on cats; the other man blinks and turns to face jaemin, eyes wide with surprise as he’s lurched out of his own thoughts, and he makes a little questioning noise.

jaemin’s heart swells with love and he thinks _i’ve been an idiot,_ for stopping himself from trying, from loving jeno like he knows he wants to.

so he leans forward, hand resting on that jawline he was just staring at, moves jeno’s head carefully to look at him, and presses a simple kiss to his mouth with a smile. 

jaemin pulls back and his smile brightens even more at how jeno chases his lips with his eyes closed. jeno shuffles back on his butt a little bit, distancing himself, and he shakes his head a little. he has a small pout on his face, and he opens his eyes to reveal the most confused puppy eyes jaemin’s ever seen.

‘i am very confused,’ jeno admits softly. 

‘tell me, i’ll explain.’

‘well.’ jeno says with a wry smile. ‘you have to admit these are still very mixed messages.’

‘i kissed you,’ jaemin replies with a shrug. ‘fuck being just friends, i wanna be your boyfriend. i trust us.’

jeno inhales sharply and jaemin smiles fondly.

‘come back,’ he whines, ‘i wanna hold your hand as well.’

three heartbeats pass before jeno shuffles back a little closer into jaemin’s personal space. jaemin grabs at jeno’s hands and holds them, entwining their hands and then meets jeno’s gaze. he’s just staring at jaemin through his long, thick eyelashes and appraises. he’s looking for something, _anything_ , and then he nods. 

‘you’re sure,’ jeno says shakily. 

‘i really like you, lee jeno.’ jaemin says brightly. 

and jeno smiles that infamous eye-smile, takes a sip from his milk black tea (thirty percent sugar, cold but no ice), swallows, and kisses jaemin. it tastes like sugar and it’s more two smiles pressing against each other instead of an actual kiss, and jaemin thinks it’s the best kiss he’s ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm @pockyjn on twitter if u wanna follow !


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